Our Global Energy Perspective 2022 outlines the most significant trends, challenges, and opportunities around the longer-term energy transition—and five potential energy scenarios.
The report provides an outlook to 2050 for each energy type and carrier, including hydrogen, sustainable fuels, natural gas, oil, and coal, as well as a view on the role of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). In this article, we take a closer look at the role that sustainable fuels will play in decarbonizing energy systems.
One such measure—sustainable fuels—could help reach those decarbonization targets. Sustainable fuels include biofuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), or bioethanol, and synthetic fuels (synfuels) such as ammonia or methanol.
They can be used as drop-in fuels in conventional internal combustion engines (ICE). Even though the costs of using sustainable fuels are projected to be higher than alternatives in the long term, the use of 100 percent renewable diesel, such as HVO, can achieve comparable life-cycle greenhouse-gas (GHG) reduction to the use of electric vehicles (EVs), allowing for faster decarbonization of existing fleets in the short term.